Yanks upgrade at hot corner, acquire McMahon from Rockies

NEW YORK -- The Yankees may have found their starting third baseman for the next 2 1/2 years, acquiring lefty-hitting third baseman Ryan McMahon in a trade with the Rockies for pitching prospects Griffin Herring and Josh Grosz.

A National League All-Star last season, the 30-year-old McMahon has started a Major League-leading 100 games at the hot corner this season and is in the 91st percentile with 4 outs above average. He is expected to report to the Yankees on Saturday.

TRADE DETAILS
Yankees receive: 3B Ryan McMahon
Rockies receive: LHP Griffin Herring, RHP Josh Grosz

McMahon addresses one of the Yankees’ most obvious needs. The club has gotten a .645 OPS from its third basemen this season, eighth worst at that position in MLB.

McMahon, who was added to the active roster on Saturday morning, will become the seventh third baseman New York has used this year, with Oswald Peraza playing the most games (48) at the position. Peraza is an above-average defender, but he hasn’t done much with the bat, hitting .147 with three homers going into Friday night’s game against the Phillies at Yankee Stadium.

In his past seven games, McMahon has shown signs of life in the batter’s box, going 7-for-24 (.292) with three home runs and seven RBIs. Overall, McMahon has a slash line of .217/.314/.403 with 16 home runs and 35 RBIs.

“He has been an All-Star third baseman and a really good defender,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “He has had his ups and downs offensively this year. … He is a presence and can really defend over there at third base for a number of years. We are excited to get him.”

That New York would add a third baseman prior to Thursday’s Trade Deadline became all but certain once it moved Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second base earlier this month and designated infielder DJ LeMahieu for assignment soon afterward.

Although the Yankees were often linked in trade rumors to D-backs third baseman Eugenio Suárez, there was reportedly "a gap in talks" between New York and Arizona, per MLB Network insider Jon Heyman. So the Yankees pivoted to McMahon.

McMahon doesn't have as much power as Suárez, but he is a much better defender and is under contract for a relatively manageable $16 million in 2026 and '27. Suárez is slated to be a free agent after this season. Plus, McMahon’s left-handed swing should play well with Yankee Stadium’s short porch in right field.

This will be the first time that McMahon will be in a playoff environment since 2018, when the Rockies lost to the Brewers in the NL Division Series.

McMahon will not be the focal point like he was in Colorado. The Yankees already have those types of players in Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger. McMahon tried to become the man after the Rockies let Nolan Arenado, LeMahieu and Trevor Story leave the organization. It didn’t work out for him – he was inconsistent in the batter’s box, with a lot of strikeouts to top it off.

“That pressure is going to be off [McMahon]. He will be able to handle New York just fine,” said an NL baseball source, who watched McMahon play on a daily basis. “I would be surprised if this doesn’t work out with the Yankees. This could be a good move for them, not only for the rest of this year but the two years he has left on his contract.”

The Yankees want McMahon to be better than what they have had at the hot corner since the start of the season.

“If you break him down, Ryan is an above-average defender. He will make all the routine plays and he’ll make some spectacular plays. The glove works,” the source said. “On the hitting side, it’s a classic beautiful swing. He has power to all fields. He’ll hit homers to left-center and right. The bugaboo is, there is a little bit of a punchout in there.

“There is a lot to like. If he hits sixth or seventh, he is going to be fine.”

Now the question is: What is the Yankees’ next move? It could see them bolster their pitching staff. They reportedly have interest in starters such as the Padres’ Dylan Cease and the Pirates’ Mitch Keller, either of whom would boost a rotation that has been hit hard by injuries this season.